Saturday, October 3, 2015

Topic Of The Day: Gugu Mbatha-Raw In The Mix For Star Wars?

Hello, Bloggers, welcome to another episode of Topic Of The Day. For today's topic, I figured I'd share my thoughts on some news that isn't exactly official, but exciting nevertheless. That is that, according to some sources like ScreenRant and Telegraph.co.uk, Gugu Mbatha-Raw is reportedly in the running to be one of the female leads in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII which will be directed by Rian Johnson.

This news is very enticing for a few reasons. One is that she is a tremendous talent and I am actually hoping for her to be in a franchise like this one that could make her a star. Another reason that this is exciting is that it could continue the trend of actors of color headlining these huge tentpole properties since John Boyega is already one of the leads in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Also, while we have seen black male actors be front and center on screen, like Will Smith and Denzel Washington, it has been very difficult for actresses of color to become movie stars. Even Halle Berry isn't much of a draw when she isn't Storm and she is an Oscar winner, for heaven's sake. Lupita Nyong'o is also an Oscar winner and will star in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But she is playing a supporting motion capture alien. I will still see the film, but when I found out what role Nyong'o was playing, I thought that was a little unfortunate. But if they were to cast an actress of color like Gugu Mbatha-Raw as one of the female leads in the next sequel and not have her play a CG character, that would be a huge step forward in my opinion. Not just for the franchise, but for Hollywood as well. That way, all the best actresses of color like Angela Bassett, Viola Davis, and Kerry Washington don't have to retreat to television where the best roles are these days.

So those are my thoughts on the casting rumors of Gugu Mbatha-Raw and why it would be a great idea to cast her in the upcoming Star Wars sequel. Whether you agree or disagree, please feel free to write your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading!